Homeopathic

Homeopathy originated with the work of German Samuel Hahneman at the end of the 18th century.

We know that for some diseases a small amount of the virus can help the body produce antibodies to protect against it. That is the bass for many vaccinations and is particularly associated with the Englishman Edward Jenner also at the end of the 18th Century, so there was some rationale for Hahneman’s thinking.

We also know that for some poisons, taking very small doses and gradually increasing over time can build some sort of immunity to it - but don’t try this at home!

Hahnemann believed that if a patient had an illness, it could be cured by giving a medicine which, if given to a healthy person, would produce similar symptoms of that same illness but to a slighter degree. Thus, if a patient was suffering from severe nausea, he was given a medicine which in a healthy person would provoke mild nausea. By a process he called ‘proving’, Hahnemann claimed to be able to compile a selection of appropriate remedies. This led to his famous aphorism, ‘like cures like’, which is often called the ‘principle of similars’; and he cited Jenner's use of cowpox vaccination to prevent smallpox as an example.
(From A Brief History of Homeopathy)

In 1997, Klaus Linde, from the Munich based Centre for Complimentary Medicine Research. trawled computer databases etc finding 186 published trials on homeopathy. His controversial meta-analysis, published in the Lancet in 1997, concluded, “The results of our meta-analysis are not compatible with the hypothesis that the clinical effects of homeopathy are completely due to placebo.”

Following criticism of his methods, he re-examined his findings and published a follow up paper in 1999 which concluded that “in the study set investigated, there was clear evidence that studies with better methodological quality tended to yield less positive results.” He was forced to change his mind on the viability of homeopathy.

In 2003, Dr Aijing Shang at Berne University in Switzerland, Undertook fresh analyses of published trials, concluding “On average, homeopathy was only marginally more effective than placebo.”

The Cochran Collaboration, the highly respected independent evaluator of medicines, concluded, “Sadly, research into homeopathy has failed to deliver any kind of positive conclusion.”

There are always those who want to believe in magic; there are some who believe the earth is flat despite the scientific evidence, but homeopathy has been exposed as just another way to part the gullible from their money.

Acknowledgement: I have relied heavily on the work of Professor Edzard Ernst, the world’s first Professor of Complementary and Alternative Medicines who has spent a lifetime studying them, and his book, “Trick or Treatment”.

Page updated 20 April 2024